Subliming chamber



SUBLIMING CHAMBER Filed Sept. 16. 1944. 2 Sheets-Sheet l I N VEN TOR. W//f/'am 7.' B aar/ham /ZTTOENEY u. 9, R4. w. T. BADHAM 473,226

v SUBLIMING CHAMBER Filed Sept. 16. 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. \^//'///'am 71' ad/yam W QM@ Patented Aug. 9, 1949 UNITED' STATES ATENT OFFICE SUBLIMING CHAMBER William T. Badham, Birmingham, Ala..

.Lirpplication September 16, 1944, Serial No. 554,524

3 Claims. l

This invention relates to subliming apparatus and has. for some of its objects the provision of such apparatus Which shall include a subliming chamber having. a minimum of. vapor loss therefrom: which shall operate ata minimum of back pressure; and which shall. produce a high qualiity product with relatively large particles of. material and consequently a product which is relatively free of impurities.

Further objects of; invention. are to provide subliming. apparatus including a subliming chamber which shall be adapted for continuous operation which shall embody'r improvedcooling. means for the chamber, thereby accelerating the rate of sublimation; and which may have the contents removed While in operation and' be cleaned without the necessity of a workman. entering the chamber, thereby avoiding the necessity of shutting the apparatus downv for cleaning.

A still further object of my invention is to provide subliming apparatus embodying a subliming chamber having a raised, inclined oor, with means especially adapted for circulating air beneath the floor.

Another object of my invention isA to provide a subliming chamber which is adapted for the contents to.v be removed by gravity.

As will be seen from a further consideration of this specification, my improved apparatus may be employed to advantage in sublimingf a number of materials, such for examplev as sulphur in making o-wers of sulphur, sublimed white lead, and numerous hydrocarbon compounds and their derivatives, as well as other materials which will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. It will be described herein particularly with reference to naphthalene for which I have found it particularly adapted. Heretof'ore, so far as I am aware, it has been the universal custom in subliming naphthalene to provide a room having. fabric breather walls for the admission of air into the room and to pass the vapors into the room to be sublimed. When sufcient naphthalene had collected on the iioor of the room, the apparatus was shut down and after opening the chamber and| allowing poisonous fumes to escape the Workmen would then. enter and shovel the naphthalene into barrels. No particular attention was paid to the construction of the iioor nor was there any means, so far as I am aware, of insuring a circulation of air beneath the floor. I have discovered that the output of a naphthalene subliming apparatus may be increased approximately three fold, by constructing the subliming chamber with a raised inclined iloor Cil eiecting a heat transfery of the. vapors through the oor to the outside and by providing means for the circulationV of air beneath the floor, thereby cooling it, and further by providinggmea-ns for emptying the chamber While in. operation, by gravity. By this means, I can insure continuous operation of the apparatus as it does not have to be shut down tov be emptied or cleaned. The workmen do noti have to enter the chamber, and consequently are not exposed to poisonous fumes winch may remain in the chamber. The im.- proved cooling through theoor produces a. more rapid rate of sublimation and the accelerated rate produces larger, purer particles.

Apparatus embodying features of my invention is illustrated in the-accompanying drawings forming4 a part of this application, in Which- Fig. 1 is an elevational. View, partly in section, of my improved apparatus;

Fig. I?.Y isa sectional View taken along the lines II-I-I oi Fig. 1;:

Fig.. 3, is a sectional View, similar to Fig. 2, showing a double subliming chamber; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing a still further. modified form of my invention.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of my invention, I show astructure comprising outside frame.A members HL, a silly ll, and. foundation members l2. A roof |-3 covers the apparatus, thus formingl a housing1 for the subliming chamber. Enclosed Within the housing. just described, is my improved subliming chamber which comprises verticalVv Wall frame members. I4 whichY extend around two sides. and one end, and a.- cross frame member I 6- which extends across theother end of the chamber. Studding l1 joins the cross frame member i6 to an. upper plate I8 which extends across. the endv of the-chamber and: is supported by the. vertical frame members lll of the housing. The frame members I4 arecovered with fabric I9V to provide for the usual. breather action. The space between the cross frame member I6 and the upper plate t8' is enclosed by anysuitable material 2l, for example, by wood or metal;

Locatedl adjacent the; end of the structure just described is an evaporating tank 22, which, may be made of any suitable material, such as concrete or metal, and which is provided with a heating coil 23 through which is circulated a suitable heating medium. The ends of the evaporating tank 22 are enclosed as shown at 24 and 26 and the outer side is joined to the subliming chamber by means of an inclined roof 21 which is joined to the cross frame member I6. The

inner side of the evaporating tank 22 is joined to the subliming chamber by means of an inner Wall 28 so that any material evaporated in the tank passes upwardly as shown by the arrows in Fig. 1 to the subliming chamber.

The subliming chamber is provided with a ceiling 29 which may be of any suitable material, such as of wood or metal, and with an elevated, inclined oor 3|, to which the inner wall 28 is joined forming a passage across one end of the chamber which connects it to the evaporating pan 22. The space beneath the inclined floor 3| is left open and there are provided a plurality of openings 32 beneath the floor on the lower side, and other openings 33 on the higher side, so that air is free to enter under the floor and circulate freely beneath it. The inclination of the floor aids in the circulation of the air by reason of the fact that the change in temperature of the air coming in contact with the floor creates convection currents which pass outwardly through the openings 33. The outer walls of the housing for the subliming chamber may also be provided with sufficient openings 35 to insure a thorough circulation of the air beneath the floor. The material of which the oor 3| is constructed should be such as to provide the necessary heat transfer for the best subliming conditions. I have found, in subliming naphthalene, that a oor made of sheet metal such as is ordinarily employed as roofing provides the necessary heat transfer and greatly accelerates the sublimation.

Along the lower side of the subliming chamber, I provide a plurality of doors 34 and at each of the doors I provide `a chute 36 for emptying the material from the chamber. Preferably, the lower side of the inclined floor 3| is at a height suiicient for a container such as a barrel 31 to be placed beneath it. The material flows by gravity down the inclined floor 3| and out of the chute 33 into the container. Should any of the material be inclined to hang, a suitable tool can be inserted through the door 34 and the material raked downwardly to the chute.

Referring now to Fig. 3 of the drawing I show my invention as embodying two inclined floors 31 and 38 located within a suitable housing 39 as hereinbefore described and meeting in a ridge at the top. The evaporating tank is shown at 4| extending along one end of the structure and opening into the subliming chamber at 42 and 43, it being understood that the structure including the cover for the evaporating tank and the inner wall are similar to that described in connection with Fig. 1. The subliming chamber is enclosed as in the modification previously described in all respects.

In Fig. 4 I show a still further form of my invention in which I provide a subliming chamber 45 with a plurality of inclined floors 46, 41, 48 and 49 forming troughs 5| and 52 between them which extend horizontally across the chamber. Screw conveyors 53 and 54 may be mounted in the troughs to deliver the material through opening 56 and 51 into barrels 58 and 59. The conveyors 53 and 54 may be operated continuously or intermittently to remove the material. Clean out doors 6| and 62 may also be provided. In this modification, as in the others heretofore described, the space beneath the inclined floors is left open for the circulation of air. It will also be understood that with all modifications of my invention mechanical means may be employed to induce the flow of air beneath the floors in event the natural circulation is insufficient.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised an improved subliming apparatus embodying a subliming chamber having a floor for collecting the sublimed materials which permits the free circulation of air beneath it. It will further be seen that by the proper elevation of the lower side of the floor of the subliming chamber the sublimed material may be readily loaded into containers, aided by gravity, and without the necessity of workmen entering the subliming chamber.

While I have shown my invention in but three forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A subliming chamber having fabric covered front, rear and sides forming breather walls, an imperforate ceiling, an elevated flat iioor inclined from the front wall toward the back wall, said oor being formed of a single thickness of impervious sheet metal and being disposed at an inclination greater than the angle of repose of the materials being sublimed, means to support the floor so as to provide for unimpeded circulation of cooling air therebeneath, there being an opening in one of the end walls for the admission to the chamber of vapors of the material to be sublimed, and a door in the front wall at the lower edge of the floor.

2. A subliming chamber according to claim 1 in which there are provided a plurality of elevated flat floors inclined with respect to each other and meeting in a ridge within the chamber.

3. A subliming chamber in accordance with claim 1 in which there are provided a plurality of elevated flat floors inclined to dene ridges with valleys therebetween and in which the doors are located to communicate with the valleys.

WILLIAM T. BADHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 301,222 Dickert July 1, 1884 1,489,707 McKee Apr. 8, 1924 1,518,126 Reed Dec. 2, 1924 1,535,468 Hedges Apr. 28, 1925 1,642,756 Wedekind Sept. 20, 1927 1,841,913 Prescott Jan. 19, 1932 2,288,964 Widmer et al. July 7, 1942 2,417,900 Badham Mar. 25, 1947 

